All our bags are unpacked and we are ready to go! Departure from Sitka was in the wee hours of the night as we timed our navigation through the Peril Straits perfect to match with the tides for safe passage. Expedition leader Sheri woke us with her pleasant voice over the public address system while National Geographic Sea Lion made way at 11.5 knots towards Chatham Strait. Being our first morning aboard, anticipation for the day’s events was high. Beyond anyone’s expectations, a group of humpback whales appeared just south of Morris Reef near the junction of Chatham and Peril Straits right at the finish of breakfast.
Feeding humpback whales are a common fixture in the waters of the inside passage. Not as common to witness is the group bubble-net feeding behavior they performed for us repeatedly. Bubble-net feeding is an activity exemplifying that humans are not alone in holding culture and complicated social structure. Each whale in the group has a specific duty such as to scare schooling fish into a ball, which ends with all the whales in unison lunging, mouths wide open, through the ball of fish, consuming every scale. Some whales are responsible for scaring the fish with the white undersides of their 14ft long flippers, while others emit frightening vocalizations and still others are creating a bubblenet. One whale in the end sounds a trumpet like call and the buffet begins.
The spectacle can only last so long and we wanted to make it farther north for kayak operations and walks in Freshwater Bay on Redcliff Islands. No one on the expedition team had ever been to this landing site so the afternoon was exploratory. The sun made an appearance and we pondered how we could be so lucky. The groups walking became intimately acquainted with the coastal temperate rainforest. The rainforest of Alaska is the largest of its kind in the world and we are currently in the middle of Tongas National Forest at just under 17 million acres. Kayakers wondered at the earth forces that created the red cliffs of the island jutting out of the middle of the fjord. The shadows grew long and the full moon rose just as the sun dipped behind Chichagoff Island.
